The Escape Artist

Jonathan Freedland Press Reviews

'Excellent . . . thrilling . . . Freedland's book is rich in the kind of details that haunt you long after you have turned the last page' - Sunday Times

'A brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information - and misinformation' -  Yuval Noah Harari

'A magnificent book. I could scarcely breathe at some points. What a tribute to its extraordinary hero, and it's such an important and necessary story to read . . . I can't praise it too highly. What an achievement' - Philip Pullman

'An immediate classic of Holocaust literature. Superbly researched and written, it is both a gripping story and deeply moving, I literally could not put it down' - Antony Beevor

'Immersive, shattering, and, ultimately redemptive book . . . An epic of terror and endurance . . . Written with Freedland's page-turning, gripping, hard-edged immediacy, The Escape Artist is profound in thought, boundless in humanity, an immediate modern classic' - Simon Schama

'Awe inspiring, exciting and poignant, this is a thrilling read, a piece of redemptive storytelling and a work of important Holocaust historical research: Freedland has given Rudolf Vrba his rightful place in history - and in the process written a book that I couldn't put down' - Simon Sebag Montefiore

'The Escape Artist is marvellous. It is original, meticulous and utterly compelling - and ultimately a deeply tragic tale' - Philippe Sands

'A must-read stand out piece of history . . . This is Freedland at his finest . . . It is both a celebration of the extraordinary will, courage and resilience of the hero - Rudi Vrba - and an all too prescient warning of how hard it is to wake up the world to things it would prefer not to see' - Emily Maitlis

'A work of the highest quality about an astonishing man. It is gripping from start to finish, searingly, shocking, revelatory, and deeply moving - the more so because there is no false note, no striving for effect. The research is prodigious and the complexities deftly woven into the narrative . . . A profoundly troubling and important work' - Jonathan Dimbleby

'A masterpiece of page-turning history: an escape story that is also a fearless exploration of some of the most profound questions that face humanity. Rudolf Vrba's extraordinary testimony will deepen your understanding of the Holocaust - and compel you to think afresh about our own times, and the role of truth, denial and fragile memory. Magisterial' - Matthew d'Ancona

'The story of Vrba's escape from Auschwitz, exquisitely told by Jonathan Freedland, soars like a thriller. Exhilarating, deeply moving, and historically important' - Simon Parkin

'Powerful, important, compelling and superbly told. This is a book that needs to be read' - Bart van Es, bestselling author of The Cut Out Girl

'An indispensable, unflinching, bone-hard book. Compelling reading' - Howard Jacobson

'I read it with my heart beating fast, full of horror, rage, despair - and admiration for this potent demonstration of the stubborn resilience of the human spirit' - Tracy Chevalier

'Brilliant' - Julia Neuberger

'Meticulously researched . . . shocking but thrilling, and ultimately overwhelmingly inspiring' - Daily Mail

'Astonishing . . . An indispensable part of Holocaust history . . . Gripping' - Guardian

'An utterly gripping narrative, incorporating a restrained though harrowing picture of life in Auschwitz and a kind of heroic adventure story' - Guardian